San Leandro

SAN LEANDRO — The city is holding a Solar Week, beginning Wednesday, April 29.

The celebration will include demonstrations of rapidly developing solar technologies.

“Climate change presents one of the most profound challenges of our time,” said San Leandro Mayor Diane Cutter in a release. “While climate change is a global problem, the most effective solutions are likely to be local,” she said.

The week starts Wednesday with the unveiling of a solar house design created by a team of Cal Poly students competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. The competition is challenging collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive. It takes place 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Zero Net Energy Center, 14600 Catalina St.

On Thursday, OSIsoft will hold its annual Users Conference at Union Square Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.

SfunCube will hold a thin film solar hack Friday. The design hackathon, open to everyone, is part of the Hanergy Thin-Film Solar Product Global Innovation Competition. The competition, which offers thousands in prizes, closes May 10. It also will be at the Zero Net Energy Center.

Saturday and Sunday, the smart City San Leandro Hack will focus on building a community vision and outlining steps toward building a smart energy grid supported by the city’s fiber optic loop. Sunday’s hackathon is full, but there is still room in Saturday’s session, which takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Zero Net Energy Center.

San Leandro Solar Week was developed by Derrick Lee, a young San Leandro entrepreneur and a leader in the maker movement. To register for one or more events, go to http://solarsanleandro.com or contact Lee at 510-676-5861 or fmvenue@gmail.com. All the events in San Leandro are free, but space is limited.

Mexico’s culture and traditions will be celebrated at several Cinco de Mayo festivals throughout the Bay Area.

Hayward and Ashland will hold festivals Saturday, and San Leandro will have a fiesta Tuesday, May 5.

Hayward’s festival will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at City Hall Plaza, 777 St. Live entertainment includes dancers, singers, and Mariachi Aguilas de Michoacan. Metro Taquero will provide food, and several agencies and vendors will have booths. Student awards will be presented.

The festival is sponsored by La Alianza de Hayward, the Hayward Public Library and the city of Hayward.

Ashland will celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Saturday with free food, local entertainment, and a community health and resource fair. The event is hosted by Alameda County Fire Department, Public Works Agency, Deputy Sheriff’s Activity League and General Services Agency, along with Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.

It takes place 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Ashland Community Center, 1530 167th Ave., San Leandro.

San Leandro will hold its 17th Cinco de Mayo celebration Tuesday, with regional Mexican dances by Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno and music by Mariachi Halcones. There will be arts and crafts booths for children, and light refreshments will be served.

The fiesta will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Civic Center Plaza, 835 E. 14th St. For more information, call Lydia Rodriguez at 510-577-3477 or email lrodriguez@sanleandro.org.

SAN LEANDRO — Police will read to children during “Call the Cops!” Thursday, April 16.

The officers will be reading out loud 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. during the Manor Branch Library’s Preschool Story Time. Children also will be able to look over a police cruiser in the library’s parking lot.

No reservations are required, but space is limited; people are encouraged to arrive early.

The Manor Branch Library is at 1241 Manor Blvd. For more information, call 510-577-7964 or CSteward@sanleandro.org.

SAN LEANDRO — Local author Mitali Perkins will moderate a panel discussion about The Big Read 2015 novel “Into the Beautiful North” from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 27, at the San Leandro Main Library Lecture Hall, 300 Estudillo Ave.

Perkins will moderate a panel of four librarians from the Biblioteca Para La Gente, who will discuss the themes referenced in the book by Luis Alberto Urrea.

“No one writes more tragically or intimately about border culture than this son of a Mexican father and Anglo mother,” journalist Bill Moyers said of Urrea, author of numerous works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

In his third novel, “Into the Beautiful North,” Urrea transcends the “us against them” discourse of immigration and writes with compassion, complexity and humor about the people and places caught up in the border wars.

Urrea invites readers to think of the border as more than a stark divide between nations: He reminds us that it is a place of convergence where meaningful conversations, and even love, between cultures begins.

Perkins, the guest speaker and panel moderator of The Big Read 2014, will return to moderate this year’s discussion.

Her eight novels include “Rickshaw Girl” (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for children in the past 100 years) and “Bamboo People” (listed as American Library Association’s Top Ten Novels for Young Adults, starred and described in Publishers Weekly as “a graceful exploration of the redemptive power of love, family, and friendship.”).

The panel discussion is a free event and no prior registration is required. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. For more information, call Mary Beth Barloga at 510-577-3992

SAN LEANDRO – Every parent has experienced the discomfort—and possibly avoidance—of discussing sensitive issues and having difficult conversations with their child.

San Leandro parent Rebecca Day-Rodriguez, a trainer and facilitator with twenty years’ experience, will be presenting a workshop titled “From Challenges to Connection: Strategies for Tackling Difficult Conversations with Our Children” at 10 a.m., at the School Readiness/Early Learning Forum, on Saturday, March 28, at Jefferson Elementary School, 14300 Bancroft Ave.

Day-Rodriguez, the parent of three children in San Leandro schools, has extensive experience running support groups and training youth and providers on subjects ranging from reproductive health and substance use to sexual assault prevention and meeting the needs of LGBTQ and people of color communities.

“As a parent,” Day-Rodriguez said, “I have found this experience only moderately prepared me for the anxiety and pressure of answering my own children’s questions.”

• Building Strong Foundations: Making the Connections between Play and Later Academic Success, presented by Julie Nicholson, Mills College, Center for Play Research; and Michelle Grant-Groves, founding director, Inquiry, Intention and Innovation Institute

• Yoga in the Classroom, and The Yoga of Parenting, presented by Christina Robohm

The day will feature remarks by Alameda County Office of Education Superintendent of Schools L. Karen Monroe and San Leandro Mayor Pauline Cutter, strong advocates of early learning.

Lunch will include a panel discussion featuring educators Victoria Forrester, Rachelle Parham, Sonal Patel and Christie Anderson, moderated by Linda Olivenbaum, director of the California Early Childhood Mentor Program at Chabot College, and the vice chair of the California Association for the Education of Young Children Public Policy Committee.

This event is free, with child care available. It is funded through the generosity of First 5 Alameda County, and supported by Davis Street Family Resource Center and Primary Care Clinic, East Bay Agency for Children, Lakeshore Learning, Kenneth Pon, CPA, Kidango, and the San Leandro Education Foundation.

To register, visit www.slusd.us, and click on the link under announcements.

HAYWARD — Chabot College will honor Reed Buffington, who led what would become Chabot-Las Positas Community College District for 20 years, on April 12.

In 1961, Buffington was named superintendent of the South County Community College District and founding president of Chabot College, a position he held for 20 years until his retirement in 1981. He died June 9 at age 94.

A celebration of Buffington’s legacy will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at the performing arts center named in his honor, 25555 Hesperian Blvd.

Before then, the college is recording recollections of people who want to share memories of Buffington. Those include people who worked with Buffington, knew him or were his neighbors when the family lived on Oakes Drive. If interested, please contact Maria Ochoa at mochoa@chabotcollege.edu to schedule a taping in the college’s television studios.

SAN LEANDRO — Bill Patterson, one of Oakland’s civic champions, will give a talk Feb. 11 as part of Black History Month.

Patterson has been active in political campaigns and community organizations for more than four decades.

The past president of the Oakland NAACP is a retired Oakland Parks and Recreation manager. He has been credited by many athletes who have gone on to gain Hall of Fame recognition, including basketball’s Bill Russell and baseball’s Joe Morgan.

Patterson was a confidant and adviser to Lionel Wilson, Oakland’s first African-American mayor.

Information about elder care resources also will be provided at the gathering from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Feb. 11 at the San Leandro City Hall Sister Cities Gallery, 835 E. 14th St. Admission is free; to register for breakfast, contact maecity@aol.com.

The Rev. Betty Clark will present information about colon cancer and its effects on the black community. Clark is the spiritual care coordinator for Senior Moments, which provides support for isolated, disabled and home-bound older adults.